Brother's plea to end agony of lost sister

October 17 2002By Julie Szego

Amber O'Donnell's nails are painted with small white flowers. The 27-year-old wears a watch with a black face and gold and silver band. She is 162.5 centimetres tall. Her eyes are blue, hair blonde, build medium and weight 60 to 65 kilograms. Amber is an insulin-dependent diabetic, as is her friend Belinda Allen, 23. The two worked at the Chelsea RSL.

They are also missing in Bali.

Garth O'Donnell gives a description of his sister, Amber, in the hope that someone comes forward with information that would end his family's aching uncertainty.

"The most important thing for us is getting all the information and facts and trying to work out where she might be," he said. "There's people over there looking for her and she could definitely be alive... There's a lot of chance she could be alive."

The family refuse to give up hope, despite their obvious fears. There are also some less obvious. Like the possibility Amber may have fallen unconscious because of her diabetes, with her condition untreated or undetected.

Last Wednesday, Amber and Belinda travelled to Bali with another friend from the RSL, Shelley. They had been to dinner together and dropped into the Sari Club for a drink before bed.

Shelley scrambled out of the club after the blast and has since returned home. She had searched in vain for her friends at all the hospitals.